Live-in, pre-marital sex not an offence, says SC

New Delhi, Mar 24: The Supreme Court on Tuesday, Mar 23, observed that a man and woman living together without marriage cannot be viewed as an offence.

The bench comprising of Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, Deepak Verma and BS Chauhan said, "When two adult people want to live together what is the offence. Does it amount to an offence ? Living together is not an offence. It cannot be an offence."

The apex court's observation came during the hearing of a special leave petition filed by south Indian actress Khushboo.

Khushboo had sought the quashing of 22 criminal cases filed against her after she allegedly endorsed pre-marital sex in interviews to magazines in 2005.

The court said even Lord Krishna and Radha lived together according to mythology.

The court also noted that there was no law which prohibits live-in relationship or pre-marital sex.

The bench further held that the views expressed by Khushboo were personal.

The court asked the complainants to produce evidence to show if any girl had eloped from her home after reading Khushboo's interview.

Khushboo had approached the apex court after the Madras high court dismissed her plea for quashing the criminal cases filed against her throughout Tamil Nadu in 2008.